Antara News·Indonesia·Saturday, September 19, 2026 at 01:35 PM

Basarnas keeps helicopter ready as Virgo 8 search continues

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Tumpal AA, Rahmad Nasution

Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has stationed an HR 36012 helicopter offshore for emergency evacuations if search teams find more victims of the KM Virgo Transport 8 accident.

I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office and SAR mission coordinator, said the aircraft was on standby to support evacuations from the wide search area.

"One aircraft is on standby for evacuations if more victims are found," he said at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Saturday.

On the seventh day, maritime search teams divided the operation into four sectors covering about 6,200 square nautical miles, while the helicopter covered one sector primarily for evacuation support.

On Saturday, search teams found an empty liferaft as the KN SAR Wisanggeni 236 searched around the site of the KM Virgo Transport 8 accident.

"About nine liferafts have been found. Six washed ashore in Seruyan, Central Kalimantan, while the other three were found near the wreck in the Java Sea," Sudayana said.

As of 1 p.m. local time Saturday, Basarnas had confirmed 117 victims, including 108 survivors and nine fatalities. Another 126 people remained missing from the 243 listed on the KM Virgo Transport 8 manifest.

The KM Virgo Transport 8 was carrying 243 people from Surabaya, East Java, to Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, when it departed on Sept. 12, 2026.

The vessel encountered bad weather and lost contact around 2 a.m. local time on Sept. 13 before being found capsized later that day in the Masalembo waters of the Java Sea.

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